Robotic Milkers From a Cow’s Point of View

We asked a cow to give us the skinny on robotic milkers. See what she had to say.

Here is how our Dairy Dictionary defines Robotic Milkers:

"On-farm technology that allows cows to be milked without human interaction. Each cow has a transponder that dangles from a neck collar and contains her personal data. Cows enter a farm’s robotic milking machine when they wish to be milked and are identified by her transponder. The robot is triggered to prepare the milking process and the cow’s udder is automatically cleansed. Then, a laser beam detects the exact position of the udder so suction cups that draw milk from the cow can be attached by a robotic arm. The milking stops once the robot senses the flow of milk has slowed. A gate opens and the cow is free to return to her bed, eat or drink water."